Production of rumoured iPad Pro reportedly delayed until later this year

Calling an unannounced, not-officially-acknowledged gadget “delayed” is somewhat mad, we admit. But earlier reports claimed that Apple was about to start producing its so-called iPad Pro, and that’s apparently not happening now.

Instead, Bloomberg says that Apple will start producing the purportedly 12.9-inch tablet around September. Weak availability of display panels is pegged as the reason for the delay, although you’d think with Apple’s money and muscle, it could make just about anything happen.

But the new debut date makes more sense with Apple’s tablet release cycle in recent years. The first three iPads all launched in summer, but then Apple pushed up the release of the fourth-gen model and shipped it just a half year after the prior model. Since then, iPads and iPhones alike have released towards the end of each year (current iPad Air 2 shown).

We’ve heard rumblings about the iPad Pro for almost a year and a half now. Reports claim that the device is planned to be the first modern Apple touch device to feature an official stylus, and a 12.2in display figure was thrown around earlier, but more recently reports have settled on the Pro having a 12.9in screen.

Apple’s tablet sales have cooled a bit of late (unlike iPhone sales), which the company believes is due to a longer lifespan before users feel compelled to upgrade. The much-rumoured iPad Pro is expected to help gear Apple tablets towards business users and creative types, thus opening up a new market for them. It’ll just be a bit longer than anticipated at this point, it seems.